NEW YORK — A New York City judge sentenced Occupy Wall Street protester Cecily McMillan on Monday to three months in jail and five years of probation for elbowing a police officer while he was clearing out a protest in Zuccotti Park.

Judge Ronald Zweibel’s decision comes at the end of a trial that sparked widespread anger among Occupy supporters for the circumstances under which McMillan was convicted of second-degree assault. They said McMillan, a graduate student who’s now 25 years old, was simply reacting to an unknown hand grabbing her breast while visiting a March 2012 protest. Officer Grantley Bovell, not McMillan, they said, should have been on trial.

McMillan’s defense attorney, Martin Stolar, has already indicated that he will appeal McMillan’s conviction. McMillan’s supporters have raised about $14,000 for her defense online, and Zweibel’s sentence will likely add further urgency to that effort. (more…)

On Monday, May 5th, Cecily McMillan was found guilty of assaulting a cop. That McMillan was merely reacting to an actual assault by the cop seemed irrelevant to the judge. She was immediately remanded and will be jailed until her sentencing date on May 19th.

Being unexpectedly jailed is terrifying and the first few days are understandably the most difficult. Help make this time more bearable by writing to Cecily to let her know folks on the outside have her back.